As the number of products suspected of having been processed with Chang Guann Co’s (強冠企業) allegedly tainted lard oil reached 187 yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that vendors who still have suspect products made from the tainted lard oil on their shelves risk being fined between NT$60,000 and NT$50 million (US$1,990 and US$1.66 million), starting today.
FDA Deputy Director-General Chiang Yi-mei (姜郁美) made the announcement at a news conference in Taipei.
She said vendors who still have Chuan Tung (全統) brand fragrant lard, the 24 lard products allegedly refined with feed-oil imported from Hong Kong by Chang Guann, as well as food products suspected to have been manufactured with the problematic food oils, could be fined.
The agency has ordered that all 25 lard products made by Chang Guann be removed from shelves nationwide, Chiang said, but it is still trying to determine which countries or regions might have imported the 12 feed-oil lard products known to be tainted in addition to the six importers in Hong Kong and one in Macau that have already been identified.
All countries to which Chuan Tung fragrant lard — the first product found to be have been tainted with contaminated oil during the first wave of the food scandal that erupted on Sept. 4 — had been exported have been informed and told that the products should be pulled from distribution channels.
The FDA has ordered local health agencies to start monitoring food companies and manufacturers who have been affected by the tainted lard oil by having them provide information on the types of food oils used in the manufacturing of their relisted products, including serial numbers and whether they have been repackaged, Chiang said.
Meanwhile, agency officials said that a total of 371.3 tonnes of suspect products have been sealed, while 12.3 tonnes have been discarded.
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
INTENSIFYING THREATS: Beijing’s tactics include massive attacks on the government service network, aircraft and naval vessel incursions and damaging undersea cables China is prepared to interfere in November’s nine-in-one local elections by launching massive attacks on the Taiwanese government’s service network (GSN), a report published by the National Security Bureau showed. The report was submitted to the Legislative Yuan ahead of the bureau’s scheduled briefing at the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The national security team has identified about 13,000 suspicious Internet accounts and 860,000 disputed messages, the bureau said of China’s cognitive warfare against Taiwan. The disputed messages focus on major foreign affairs, national defense and economic issues, which were produced using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed through Chinese
COUNTERING HOSTILITY: The draft bill would require the US to increase diplomatic pressure on China and would impose sanctions on those who sabotage undersea cable networks US lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill to bolster the resilience of Taiwan’s submarine cables to counter China’s hostile activities. The proposal, titled the critical undersea infrastructure resilience initiative act, was cosponsored by Republican representatives Mike Lawler and Greg Stanton, and Democratic Representative Dave Min. US Senators John Curtis and Jacky Rosen also introduced a companion bill in the US Senate, which has passed markup at the chamber’s Committee on Foreign Relations. The House’s version of the bill would prioritize the deployment of sensors to detect disruptions or potential sabotage in real-time and enhance early warning capabilities through global intelligence sharing frameworks,
RSS